Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers will become the first government minister from Australia in that key economic role to visit China in seven years.

New Zealand is the latest country to confront cruel, systemic and commonplace abuse of children and vulnerable adults in state and faith-based care institutions.

South Pacific leaders are heading to the stunning island of Aitutaki to discuss climate change and other regional concerns.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss will join the former leaders of Australia and Belgium at a conference in Tokyo later this month to call for a tougher international approach to China.

An Australian prosecutor says he dropped a rape charge against a former government adviser because of the life-threatening trauma a trial would cause the woman allegedly assaulted in a Parliament House office.

Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has listed his achievements in government including standing up to a “bullying" China as he unsuccessfully argued against being censured by the Parliament for secretly amassing multiple ministerial powers.

An inquiry into a former Australian prime minister secretly appointing himself to multiple ministries has recommended that all such appointments be made public in future to preserve trust in government.

Australia’s prime minister says he remains committed to building a fleet of submarines powered by U_S_ nuclear technology despite the French president describing the plan as a “confrontation with China.”.

Japan and Australia have signed a new bilateral security agreement to reflect the deteriorating security outlook for their region driven by China’s increasing assertiveness.

In a story published October 18, 2022, about Australia dropping its former recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government would again recognize Tel Aviv as the capital.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government will launch an inquiry aimed at preventing a prime minister from ever again secretly amassing new ministerial powers.

Scott Morrison says giving himself extra powers when he was Australia’s prime minister was necessary during the coronavirus crisis as criticism rose the moves were deceptive and undemocratic.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused his predecessor Scott Morrison of “trashing democracy” after revealing that while Morrison was in power, he arranged to have himself quietly appointed to five ministerial roles without the knowledge of many other lawmakers or the public.

Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will take advice on whether to accept President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's invitation to visit Ukraine during an upcoming European trip.

When China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April it raised concerns from the U.S. and its allies that Beijing may be seeking a military outpost in the South Pacific, an area of traditional American naval dominance.

Australia’s new government has urged China to lift trade sanctions if it wants to reset a bilateral relationship that plumbed new depths under the previous administration.

New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walked into a global spotlight the day after his swearing-in.

President Joe Biden has warned fellow leaders of the informal Indo-Pacific security coalition known as the Quad that they are “navigating through a dark hour in our shared history.”.

Australia’s new prime minister was sworn into office before flying to Tokyo for a summit with President Joe Biden.

President Joe Biden has launched a new trade deal with 12 Indo-Pacific nations aimed at strengthening their economies as he warns Americans worried about high inflation that it is “going to be a haul” before they feel relief.

Australians awoke to a new prime minister in Anthony Albanese, the center-left Labor Party leader whose ascension to the nation’s top job from being raised in social housing by a single mother on a disability pension was said to reflect the country's changed fabric.

Australia’s Prime Minister-elect Anthony Albanese is a politician molded by his humble start to life as the only child of a single mother who raised him on a pension in gritty inner-Sydney suburbia.

Scott Morrison says his conservative government had left Australia in a robust condition even as voters punished him for his handling of issues including climate change and the pandemic that gave the center-left opposition its biggest victory for almost a decade.

Australia’s center-left opposition party has toppled the conservative government after almost a decade in power.

President Joe Biden hopes to use his visit to Asia to confirm his belief that long-standing friendships can afford to become even friendlier — and pay dividends.

Australians will go to the polls Saturday following a six-week election campaign that has focused on pandemic-fueled inflation, climate change and fears of a Chinese military outpost being established less than 1,200 miles off Australia’s shore.

A man impersonating North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday disrupted the Australian election campaign when he burst into an event that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was attending with lawmaker Gladys Liu.

A Chinese ambassador says China’s engagement with South Pacific island countries poses no threat to Australia, responding to fears that Beijing will establish a military foothold in the Solomon Islands.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is following security officials’ advice in managing bilateral relations with the Solomon Islands after the South Pacific neighbor’s leader alleged he’d been threatened “with invasion.”.

Australia’s central bank has lifted its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than 11 years.

Australia’s opposition party has promised to establish a Pacific defense school to train neighboring armies in response to China’s potential military presence on the Solomon Islands.

Australians are paying tribute to their war dead on Anzac Day largely free of pandemic restrictions for the first time since 2019.

Australia and the United States are stepping up diplomatic outreach to the Solomon Islands after China signed a security deal with the South Pacific island nation that could lead to Beijing establishing a military presence there.

The son of a single mother who raised him on a pension, Anthony Albanese had a humble start to life for an aspiring Australian prime minister.

In at least one sense, Scott Morrison is the most successful Australian prime minister in years.

Australia’s prime minister has called for a May 21 election that will be fought on issues including Chinese economic coercion, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the missile strike on an eastern train station is another Russian war crime.

India and Australia’s trade ministers say a shared security partnership with the United States and Japan has helped them strike a trade deal that Australia hopes will reduce its dependence on exports to China.

The United States, United Kingdom and Australia have announced that they will work together via the recently created security alliance known as AUKUS to develop hypersonic missiles.

The U.S. Defense Department says it is providing an additional $300 million in military equipment to Ukrainian forces defending the country from Russian troops.

Australia’s government has presented a range of economic measures such as halving the tax on gasoline in a bid to help cushion the impact of rising prices and win votes at elections due by May.

President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan will talk Thursday in a virtual meeting of the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad that comes a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s leader decried Russia’s escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he has tested positive for COVID-19 but will continue his official duties while isolating.

A firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions says $33.8 million in the digital currency has been donated to Ukraine’s government and non-governmental organizations there since the start of Russia’s invasion.

A regional Ukraine official says more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv.

The United States and European allies are stepping up sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by adding measures directly targeting President Vladimir Putin and his top diplomat.

World leaders have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “barbaric” and quickly slapped heavy sanctions on the Russian economy, President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and many of the country’s oligarchs.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Russia’s attack on Ukraine — as he appealed for President Vladimir Putin to stop his troops — was “the saddest moment” of his five-year tenure.

World leaders are backing up their condemnation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine with action, announcing financial sanctions, banning trade with Ukrainian separatist regions and halting Russian bond distribution.

The U.S. and all 27 European Union member nations are ordering initial penalties targeting Russian officials over their actions in Ukraine.

The European Union's top diplomat says foreign ministers will meet Tuesday to decide what sanctions to impose over Russia’s decision to recognize two separatist regions in southeast Ukraine.

International tourists and business travelers are arriving in Australia after it lifted its final travel restrictions for fully vaccinated passengers.

Novak Djokovic says he is prepared to skip the French Open and Wimbledon if vaccination against the coronavirus is required for him to play.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia could invade Ukraine during the current Beijing Olympics so Americans should leave the Eastern European country immediately.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is on the entry list for the BNP Paribas Open in California, where the Serb would face a vaccine mandate.

Australian political leaders have apologized to staffers who have endured decades of bullying, harassment and sexual assault inside Parliamentary House and other government offices.

Australia will open its borders to all vaccinated tourists and business travelers from Feb. 21.

Australia’s government says it will spend more than $1 billion on converting research ideas into commercial hits as it looks to improve the economy with an election looming.

The Australian government has pledged to spend another 1 billion Australian dollars ($704 million) over nine years on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef after stalling a UNESCO decision on downgrading the natural wonder’s World Heritage status.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lost control of his Chinese-owned social media platform WeChat account and a lawmaker has accused China’s leaders of political interference.

Australia has reported its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 coronavirus fatalities, as an outbreak of the omicron variant continues to take a toll.

Three of Tonga’s smaller islands have suffered serious damage from tsunami waves, officials and the Red Cross say, as a wider picture begins to emerge of the destruction caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific archipelago nation.

Weary of harsh COVID-19 border restrictions, many Australians wanted Novak Djokovic deported for traveling to a tennis tournament without being vaccinated.

Novak Djokovic’s attempt to play in the Australian Open despite being unvaccinated for COVID-19 has come to an end after a court upheld a government minister’s rejection of his visa.

A verdict is expected later Sunday in tennis star Novak Djokovic’s appeal against a deportation order that threatens his participation in the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic won his first legal round against Australian authorities who want to deport him.

The treatment of tennis star Novak Djokovic by Australian immigration officials might seem harsh from afar.

The Australian government has revoked tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time, just three days before the Australian Open begins.

Novak Djokovic was included in the draw for the Australian Open — but he’s still waiting to learn if he can stay in the country.

Novak Djokovic has remained in limbo even after he was included in the draw for the Australian Open, with the tennis star still awaiting a government decision on whether to deport him for not being vaccinated for COVID-19.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus has swept across Australia despite its high vaccination rate and strict border policies that kept the country largely sealed off from the world for almost two years.

Novak Djokovic has held a practice session, a day after he left immigration detention, focusing on defending his Australian Open title even while he still faces the prospect of deportation because he’s not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Novak Djokovic is getting his day in court in a deportation case that has polarized opinions and elicited heartfelt support for the world No. 1 tennis player in his native Serbia.

On the tennis court, Novak Djokovic’s timing is perfect.

The leaders of Japan and Australia have signed a “landmark” defense agreement that allows closer cooperation between their militaries and stands as a rebuke to China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

Novak Djokovic came within one victory of sweeping all four of last year’s Grand Slam tennis tournaments and entered 2022 needing one title to set the men’s record of 21 major championships.

Australia has seen another day of rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations amid fears that changes to testing requirements could mask the full scale of the outbreak.

The Australian government has denied No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic entry to defend his title in the year's first tennis major and canceled his visa because he failed to meet the requirements for an exemption to the country's COVID-19 vaccination rules.

Novak Djokovic’s chance to play for a 10th Australian Open title has been thrown into limbo.

Australia and Japan will sign a treaty on Thursday to increase defense and security cooperation in a move that has been hailed as “historic” but which might anger China.

Australia is experiencing rising COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations and long queues at testing centers as it continues to battle the rapid spread of the virus in most states.

New coronavirus infections have soared again in Australia to a record of more than 32,000, just days after surpassing 10,000 for the first time.

Mexico is giving approval to the use of Cuba’s three-dose Abdala coronavirus vaccine.

Coronavirus cases are surging across Australia as an outbreak of the omicron variant spreads, prompting Prime Minister Scott Morrison to schedule an emergency national cabinet meeting.

A worldwide surge in COVID-19 infections thanks to the omicron variant is tempering Christmas celebrations.

Iowa state officials anticipate spending $9.2 million in federal funds to shore up health care staffing at strained hospitals amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.

Australia says it plans to start making mRNA vaccines at home with a new plant that could produce up to 100 million doses each year.

Australia and South Korea have signed a $720 million defense deal as South Korean President Moon Jae-in became the first foreign leader to visit Australia since the pandemic began.

Australia’s military says it plans to ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan helicopters and instead buy U.S. Black Hawks and Seahawks because the American machines are more reliable.

Australia's prime minister says his country will join the U.S. in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns.

Australia's opposition leader says the nation would set a more ambitious target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by the end of the decade if the government changes at elections early next year.

Australian authorities have announced that they will delay for at least two weeks plans to relax border restrictions as the country reported a fifth case of the omicron COVID-19 variant.

Violence has receded in the capital of the Solomon Islands, but the government has shown no signs of attempting to address the underlying grievances that sparked two days of riots, including concerns of the country’s increasing links with China.

Australia says it is sending police, troops and diplomats to the Solomon Islands to help after anti-government demonstrators defied lockdown orders and took to the streets for a second day in violent protests.

The Solomon Islands prime minister has blamed foreign interference for anti-government protests, arson and looting that have ravaged the capital in recent days following his government’s decision to switch alliances from Taiwan to Beijing.

The Australian government expects 200,000 vaccinated foreign students and skilled workers will soon return without quarantining when the country further relaxes pandemic restrictions next week.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a new plan to protect and promote technologies critical to the national interest, including quantum technologies, in a challenge to China’s emerging dominance in key strategic fields.

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating says a deal to acquire submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology is aimed at protecting the United States from Chinese nuclear attack and has changed Australia-Sino relations.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a $738 million investment fund to fast-track emerging low emissions technologies including carbon capture and storage.